New residency in upstate New York will give Indigenous artists access to neon fabrication studio

A neon fabrication studio in Kingston, New York is partnering to launch Native Neon, an artist residency program supporting Indigenous artists working with neon for the first time. The studio has a history of collaborations with prominent artists and has produced work for major art institutions. Sarah Rowe, an enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and of Lakota descent, is the inaugural resident. She receives $50,000, a $10,000 stipend, and an approximately week-long residency. Rowe creates drawings, paintings, and installations focused on light and scale, and proposes an immersive environment using neon. Her planned work is expected to connect to the heyoka trickster figure and use color to challenge perception, aiming to build a liminal space representing the trickster realm.

"The , a neon fabrication studio in Kingston, New York, is partnering with the to launch Native Neon, an artist residency programme supporting Indigenous artists working with neon for the first time. The studio is known for its collaborations with artists like Glenn Ligon, Theaster Gates and Jeffrey Gibson, and has produced work for institutions including the Museum of Modern Art and the Dia Art Foundation."

"The multidisciplinary artist , an enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, who is also of Lakota descent, is the inaugural recipient of the residency and has been awarded $50,000, a $10,000 stipend and an approximately week-long residency. Rowe produces drawings, paintings and installations that emphasise light and scale, and has proposed creating an immersive environment that incorporates neon elements."

""I have always been fascinated by light and the idea of neon as a drawing with light," Rowe tells The Art Newspaper. "I would love to see how my line work could translate to light itself, or how to use light as an actual medium for mark marking.""

"The work produced in the residency will unfold naturally but will likely relate to the theme of the heyoka, a trickster figure in Lakota tradition and a recurring feature in Rowe's work, and use colour to challenge perception. Rowe plans to create a "liminal" space that represents the "realm of the trickster", she says."

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